I fought the war but the war won
by Gemmortia
Summary: Bill's wolf won't accept Fleur as his mate and so they part ways. Hermione and Ron find that they weren't meant for each other. What happens when Bill's wolf stakes his claims on the young book worm? How long will he fight his attraction before giving in? What will Hermione do when her new Charms professor starts taking an intense interest in her?
1. Chapter 1

The inevitable goodbye

He signed the magical contract that released the bond Fleur and I shared briefly, feeling the slight sting in his chest as it weaved its way out of my magical signature. For some reason the lifting of our marriage bond made him feel relieved as is a heavy weight he had not known he was carrying was lifted off of his shoulders. He sighed, feeling somewhat guilty as he looked up at Fleur's tear stained face and sharp blue eyes.

He took a deep breath ignoring all the scents his heightened werewolf senses picked up and moved over to her side. He wrapped and arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead comfortingly mumbling sweet nothings and apologies in her ear. They had both decided it was for the best, not for lack of love, but for lack of the right kind of love. Bill couldn't deny the fact that he loved his Fleur but he wasn't _in love_ with her like he was before he was turned and the moon affected his person.

His wolf refused to accept the beautiful French woman as his mate and Bill felt it was unfair to keep her in a relationship that was not mutual or equal. She deserved someone who would love her as if she were the most precious thing in the whole world and believed that she put the stars in the sky and the flames on the sun. He had once loved her like that, but his wolf, Raff, took that away from him.

Bill found the first month of being a werewolf that Raff was stubborn and unable to accept compromise and therefore he would never be truly happy with Fleur. He doubted that he would ever find a woman as good as she that his wolf would accept as his mate but Raff reassured him that she was close by. Apparently he could feel it and that Bill would recognise her immediately by her enticing smell.

They walked in silence from the marriage register department in the ministry to the Floo network in the entry to the ministry and went home. Their cottage was by the beach near a little town far away from anything important. It was nice to be away from all the noise and smells that is London but he couldn't stay here. Fleur was leaving today, to go back to her family in France and Bill didn't blame her one bit for leaving.

He was leaving too, just for a little while to clear his head of all the horribleness that was the war and the end of their relationship. Bill was to move back into the Burrow with his family and was looking forward to the distraction his siblings would cause. He didn't much want to have too much time to think about things for once. He was sure his mother would keep him busy, smothering him with affection and love.

He had missed her recently, probably having something to do with his new found pack nature and craving for company whilst living this past month with Fleur and no one else visiting much, all too caught up in their own grief. The only time he had seen this entire family all together was at Tonks's funeral and he could barely look at any of them as his grief flooded him and took over his entire being.

He was grateful that Fleur had insisted on coming with him, even with all her plans and arrangements for moving back home and getting their divorce official. He didn't think he could have kept control of himself if she hadn't been there to hold him together especially since his first full moon was a day away from tearing his apart.

The day went by quickly as he helped Fleur gather all the belongings she was taking with her back to France and then the time came for her to leave him. She cried again, silently as she always did, her beautiful blonde hair flowing into her face as she sniffed. He couldn't help but whine at the smell of her sadness and sweep her up into an enormous hug, holding her tightly to him for the very last time.

He inhaled deeply, hoping that her rose petal scent would stay with him forever. She pulled away all too soon and kissed him on both cheeks, one across his scars and the other on his unmarred skin before whispering "I do not blame you Bill. I love you." And with her final goodbyes said, she picked up her bag; all her things made to fit into the one with magic and were gone with a deafening crack that left the cottage silent and a ringing in his heart that he thought would never end.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

"What's it like?" A deep voice Bill recognised as Charlie asked from behind him. He turned around to find said brother moving over to him at the table and sitting down opposite him. Bill knew he was referring the transformation on the full moon. The change he undertook when becoming a werewolf under the full moon. Bill was still slightly bitter about his condition but also slowly coming to like the changes it afforded him.

"It hurts like a bitch, if you must know. But I'm stronger now, my senses are heightened and I feel more…I don't know… just more." Charlie didn't look pitying which Bill was grateful for. Ever since he came back to live at the burrow, not being able to face Shell Cottage on his own, every time his mother looked at him he saw pity in her eyes and he was sick of it. Charlie only looked curious, but then again he had always been fascinated with magical creatures and now that his brother was one it was only right that he would have smiled at his eagerness.

"What kinds of things can you smell? I mean, I can smell normal stuff but you…" He trailed off.

"I can kind of smell emotions. But you have to know the effects certain emotions have on the body in order to actually identify them. Everyone has a different scent, like you for instance, smell like leather, smoke and the faintest hint of ginger. All we Weasley's have the small ginger smell which I find quite ironic." He kept on asking question after question until he final came down to a serious topic.

"So werewolves have mates for life right?" Bill nodded, not liking were this was going.

"And you and Fleur just got a divorce."

"Yes."

"So she wasn't your mate?"

"You guessed it."

"That sucks."

"It does indeed. And for a while before the war we thought we were going to have a baby, but Fleur had a miscarriage. She was so distraught and she couldn't even look at me for a week afterwards. She was so sure she was going to have a baby girl and she was so excited. It just makes the whole situation worse. We said goodbye to our marriage and we also said good bye to little Victorie." There was a whimper that came from the door way and both men turned around to see Ginny standing there wide eyed and tearful.

"Bill, I didn't know it was that bad." She whispered and then ran to him, throwing her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He reciprocated, enjoying the comfort and consoling that his little sister offered then he smelt it. The scent was divine, like honey and vanilla and heaven all rolled into one. Bill sniffed deeply in order to define the new scent, although he had a strange sense that he had encountered it before, but if he had surely he would have remembered it? Ginny giggled as he nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck getting closer to the smell.

"Bill that tickles." She said through her laughter and pulled away from him. He stared at her hard. Her smell was different to the one he was after. He tilted his head to the side in contemplation. Whose could it be? He asked himself.

 _It's your mates scent you idiot!_ His wolf barked inside his head making him even more confused. 'Ginny can't be my mate, that's just sick.' Bill thought to himself. Raff sighed in disappointment at his idiocy.

Ron walked into the room at that moment and the scent got stronger, lifting Bill up from his seat and the table and carried himself over to Ron. He stopped right in front of his youngest brother and inhaled again, the scent filling him completely. Ron was frozen to the spot at the sight of his brother's wolf being so on display, his eyes turning from their Weasley blue to amber.

"Bill?" He asked hesitantly, not wanting to do anything that may provoke the wolf.

"You smell fucking delicious." Bill said in a deep raspy voice that made Ron shudder in fright.

"Thank you?"

"Who were you two just with? I can smell them on you." Bill said reigning in Raff and turning to look at Ginny for an answer.

"We just came back from lunch with Harry and Hermione at Grimmauld place, why?" She said and he shook his head. 'This is just a flook. Neither of the two could be my mate.' He told himself. It was just impossible. Hardly anyone found their mates, it was rare among wolves so why should he be the lucky one? What made him so special and deserving of such an honour? Remus didn't find his mate, even though he had Tonks and god knows that he defiantly deserves it after all he's been through. The chances of him actually finding his mate were a million to one. Practically impossible.

'I shouldn't get my hopes up.' he told himself as he resigned himself to a life alone.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione sat with Ron after they had finally stopped fighting about some menial thing she couldn't even remember and sighed. She rested her head on his shoulder as they sat in Grimmauld Place in the library on the couch just listening to the sound of their collective breathing.

"This isn't working Ronald. I can't take it anymore. After the war, we were supposed to be happy. It was supposed to end and we were meant to be happy." She whispered and he nodded in agreement. Their relationship had escalated from shy looks and childhood crushes to rushed passionate kisses in the heat of a war but now it had fizzled out. She had given him her innocence only to realise that while she loved Ron, she only loved him as a friend and he felt the same way.

Their relationship was expected to happen, everyone wanted them to be a pair and they gave in to social pressure and expectation. It was fun for a while but they both soon realised it wasn't working. There was too much difference between the two for them to ever get along properly in the relationship that they wanted. They picked out each others flaws and hurt each others feelings and in a short amount of time grew sick of the others company.

"I know Hermione. Well, at least we can say we tried." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

"Is it bad to say that I'm relieved it's over?" She asked and heard him chuckle beside her.

"Honestly, I feel the same way." He replied. She lifted her head off his shoulder and kissed him softly on the lips one last time.

"How are we going to tell your mother? She was always convinced I was going to marry you." She said with a slight smile playing on her lips, obviously amused at the thought of the red heads reaction.

"We'll break it to her gently. Don't worry, I've mastered the art of breaking bad news to my mother and I'm sure I can do it without her throwing a massive fit." He reassured. She nodded biting her lip.

"We should do it together though, so she knows it was a mutual decision and that we're both okay with it." He agreed.

That night at the Burrow, for the first time since the battle Hermione stepped inside the house only to be pulled into a death grip by one Molly Weasely.

"I've missed you. You should have come sooner darling." She said to Hermione as she pulled away looking her over.

"Look at you. You look as if you've hardly been eating. We'll have to fix that straight away. Come in and I'll get you something to eat." She said as she let Hermione go and ushered her further into the house.

Ron came over to her and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly in greeting even though they had only just seen each other at lunch before going in through the kitchen and out to the yard where all the other dinner guests had congregated. They ate dinner in silence, waiting for the right time to tell everyone. Harry, who was sitting on Hermione's left noticed that the two were acting strangely and whispered "Are you alright?" into her ear. She smiled slightly at his concern answering reassuringly.

"I'm good. Relieved actually and you'll know why in a minute or two." Hermione used her silence to observe who was at dinner that night. She could see George sullenly pushing food around his plate still deep in the depression that losing his loved ones has made him fall into. Fred was beside his twin as well helping Luna who was sitting on George's other side to cheer him up, whispering sweet nothings in his ear, earning her a slight smile every now and then. Molly was sitting next to Arthur and was chatting to Charlie who was back from Romania to stay, having procured a job at the dragon reserve in Wales.

Percy was sitting next to his girlfriend Penelope and Ginny was sitting almost on top of Harry's lap. Sirius, Harry's godfather, was sitting next to a widowed Remus chatting about Teddy, who was on Sirius's lap. Finally Hermione's eyes landed on Bill, the eldest Weasley brother who just so happened to be staring at her with a look of incredulousness and wonderment. She caught his eye and a blush crossed over his features but he didn't turn away he just continued to stare, boring in to her eyes intensely as if he were searching for tore her eyes away from him when Ron stood up at her side and the room fell into silence.

"I have something to tell you all. Hermione and I have decided-" He was cut off be a squeal of excitement from his mother who was practically jumping up and down in her seat.

"Oh I knew you two would end up together I just didn't realise you would be getting married so soon!" She yelled excitedly. Ron just ignored her and continued speaking.

"- that we are better as friends than lovers. I hope you all support our decision." And with that he plopped back into his seat and continued to eat his food, not noticing or choosing to ignore the state he left his family in. They all stared at Hermione and Ron in confusion. They had all thought that the two were made for each other.

"BUT… Why?" Molly asked incredulously. There was silence again.

"Do you really think that's any of our business Mum? It's their relationship not ours and they would know what's best for them. Let them be." Bill spoke up and every eye in the room turned to him just in time to see him walk out of the room.

Hermione swore she saw a ghost of a smile on his lips as he left.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four (Bill's POV)

Bill walked away from the table full of his family's shocked faces and went up to his room. He couldn't get the scent of Hermione off of his mind. It was glorious and hypnotising. The warm vanilla mixed with honey and spices made his heart rate increase rapidly. He couldn't help but stare at her, totally entranced throughout the entirety of the evening. His wolf remained unnaturally quiet but didn't dwell on it, too focused on thinking about Hermione.

She was the total opposite of what he usually went for in a woman, but then again, he usually went for the easy route when it came to women. Hermione was everything but easy. She was going to be hard to sway but Bill was convinced he would do anything it took to get her to like him, maybe even love him. He couldn't help but compare Hermione to his now ex-wife. Fleur was the total opposite of her. She was tall, blonde and willowy where as Hermione was shorter, with honey brown wavy hair and a curvy figure.

Fleur was loud and confident but Hermione was quiet and less confident. She was sure of herself in a less confronting manner that appealed to him. Bill had never really been very loud or boisterous in his youth nor had he changed with age. He had admired Fleur's outgoing and people person personality but he much preferred to observe than participate. It was one of the things that they had fought about before he was turned. Hermione though, seemed to be a keen observer much like himself as well as extremely intelligent.

She had helped Harry defeat Voldemort and he was pretty sure that the war wouldn't have been won without her. She was quite the witch and he couldn't help but want to know more about her. He had had the insatiable urge to pick at her mind and ask her all sorts of questions. What was her favourite book, what kind of food did she hate, what was her favourite colour, what were her family like, where did she see her future going and so many more things.

He cocked his head to the side, as he sat on his bed when he heard footsteps coming up the stair case. They made their way to his door and then there was a knock. It was her. He could tell by the way her scent flooded into the room and how his heart beat fast just at the thought of seeing her again even though he had only left the kitchen not ten minutes ago.

"Come in." Bill said and the door opened slowly to reveal the bushy haired beauty smiling sheepishly at him. He had the sudden urge to take her, right here right now and claim her as his. His wolf returned with a growl, demanding Bill to claim what was ours.

 _"Now, you foolish human. Take her. She is mine. Ours. "_ Raff demanded and Bill fought him hard to control himself. He didn't want to scare her away. He was determined to do this properly, take her out on dates, work his way up to a bigger commitment, she was only nineteen after all.

" _She will hate us if we don't approach with caution. Do you want our mate to hate us?"_ Bill asked and his wolf huffed in annoyance and impatience but shut up.

"Hey Bill." She said and her voice was sweet and melodic. He couldn't help but smile slightly at the sound of it.

"Hi Hermione." He said and she gave a small smile in return.

"I just wanted to thank you for sticking up for Ron and I." She said quietly.

"Don't mention it. Mum's always had a problem with that kind of thing. She still doesn't understand why Fleur and I broke things of... not that she's unhappy about it mind you. She hated Fleur with a passion. Not particularly sure why though..." He said trailing off.

"Probably because she was a snob. And French." Hermione said and Bill looked up at her in amusement, raising an eyebrow at her candour. A look of shock came over her face as she realised she had in fact said that out loud.

"I- I didn't mean to sound so callous. I'm sorry Bill." she stuttered apologetically but didn't deny what she had said.

"Well I suppose it's true. She is a snob. We fought about that a lot. But I had no problem with the French part. I found her accent quite alluring." He said, watching her face closely to see her reaction to his words. Her cheeks tinged pink and she bit her lip nervously. Bill laughed at her awkwardness and she smiled at him warmly. Almost fondly.

"So, are you going to go back to Egypt?" Hermione asked after a moment of silence. Bill frowned at her question. He hadn't considered that as an option for the future. He hadn't really thought much about his future at all. He sighed in frustration and ran a had through his hair as he looked up at her once more.

"I haven't really thought about it to be honest. It's a possibility but I'm sure Mum will demand I stay close to home and I'm not exactly opposed to the idea as much as I was when I was younger." He said and Hermione leaned back against the frame of the door as she thought about what he said.

"Well, there is an opening at Hogwarts for a couple of teaching positions. Have you ever thought about that?" She asked and he smiled at her. It was a good idea. He had always been good at helping people with things. He used to tutor people at school for a bit of pocket money and he always helped Charlie with his homework. It would be fun to be back at Hogwarts too, it had been at least ten years since he was there last for any reason other that the war. He contemplated the option seriously and decided it would be worth looking into.

"I'll owl Minerva with an inquiry. Thanks for the idea 'Mione." He said and Hermione beamed at him.

"Well if you do get a position, then you'll be one of my teachers. I'm going back to finish my seventh year when the term starts." She said cheerily.

"What made you decide to go back?" He asked curiously.

"I want to get my N.E. . I've gotten a lot of offers for different ministry positions and Kingsley has been pressuring me to accept his offer to fast track straight to the auror academy like Ron and Harry are but I'm not exactly sure what I want to do so I thought that finishing my schooling while I decide would be a good way to spend my time." She said and Bill nodded in agreement.

"Sounds reasonable." He agreed. They sat and stood respectively for a couple more moments before Hermione spoke again.

"Well I had better head off. Ginny coerced me into going shopping with her tomorrow so I need all the rest I can get." She said and stood straighter as she moved out the door.

"Goodnight Hermione." Bill said and she smiled again at him over her shoulder as she walked back down stairs and to the floo.


	5. Chapter 5 part one

Chapter Five Hermione POV

The next few weeks went by quickly for Hermione. She was busy spending time with her friends, preparing for her seventh year at Hogwarts and just generally relaxing. she felt refreshed and energetic, something she hadn't felt for a long time since the pressure and stress of the war against Voldemort took up most of her thoughts and time. She found herself to be more than just a book worm and know it all that everyone had labelled her to be. She was more confident about herself now, in her body and her mind which took everybody by surprise.

It was a very different side of herself that she was exploring and everyone thought it was a good thing. She never really had time to be herself, always looking after harry and Ron but now she had the time. She grew from a young girl into a woman in a matter of months and people were only just noticing the difference. She locked herself away in the library less and less. She went out more, partied like the eighteen year old that she was and had fun for the first time in a long time.

Hermione was encouraged by Sirius, whom she was living with along with Remus, to go wild because this was the time to exactly that. Although Remus was less enthusiastic about seeing Hermione go and get sloshed every other day, he did encourage her to have fun and so she did. The weeks flew by and Hermione also spent some more time with Bill. He had been appearing at Grimmauld Place at random times over the weeks and Hermione found herself liking him more and more.

She had not seen much of the eldest Weasley before the war, but now that she was getting to know him more personally, she found that they had a lot in common. They were both intelligent, had the same political views especially about magical creature equality and rights, they even had the same temperament which made for interesting debates and conversations. They liked the same food and had a particular love of muggle alcohol including vodka and tequila.

One night, a couple of days before Hermione was to leave for Hogwarts, Ron, Harry, the twins, Charlie, Bill and Hermione all went out for some drinks at a pub near Grimmauld place. This lead to copious amounts of alcohol being consumed, a couple of drinking games, the twins challenging Hermione to a game of beer pong, which she lost, and an unfortunate incident which resulted Hermione landing on her ass on the dance floor. By this time it was about two in the morning and Bill, Charlie and Hermione were the only ones left at the pub.

BIll, being a werewolf, had a high alcohol tolerance so wasn't even the least bit drunk and Charlie chose not to drink at all so as to make sure all his siblings and friends got home with out dying horrible in the process. Both men were looking on as a very drunk Hermione tried to pull herself up of the floor, with amusement clear on their faces. She was pouting at them, because they were just standing there, not helping her.

"Help me please." She whined, causing Charlie to laugh and Bill to smirk but move to lift her up over his shoulder. She huffed in annoyance, but didn't make any protests.

"Charlie, I'm going to take this one home, I think you're off the hook." Bill said with a grin in his brothers direction, causing him to raise his eyebrows questioningly but nodded.

Bill carried a nearly passed out Hermione to the floo and said 'Grimmauld place' in a clear voice as he stood in the green flames. The network took them straight to the drawing room of the house that was current Hermione's home. She was carried through the dark room and out into the hallway and to the stairs. Bill paused for a moment, not sure where her bedroom was.

"Hermione, where's your room?" He whispered quietly and she groaned in response. He held back his chuckle and held her tighter, not wanting to drop the sleeping woman in his arms.

He moved towards a bright light that Hermione assumed was the kitchen and asked someone a question but she was to far gone to care at this point. She just wanted to go to sleep. Then they were moving again, going up the stairs by the feel of it. Hermione vaguely thought that it felt nice to be pressed up against such a muscled and comfortable body before she was laid down on a bed that she assumed was her own.

Someone took of her shoes and then pulled her blankets over her before kissing her forehead and whispering, "Goodnight, my mate." The voice was deep and gravelly and she the last thing she remembered was thinking that it was the best thing in the world before she fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 5 part two

Bill's POV

last night had been incredibly funny for Bill, watching his mate get drunk of her face was quite the experience for him, not having seen it up close before. He took it upon himself to make sure she got home safely and didn't get into too much trouble, which confused his closest brother greatly but Bill chose it ignore it. There was one incident where Hermione begged Charlie for a dance and at this point she was more than a little tipsy.

"Come on Char. I want to dance. Please?" She begged putting on her best puppy dog pout face that no one could say no to, even if they wanted to. Bill found himself becoming increasingly jealous of his brother but tried to contain himself.

"Do I have to?" He asked. Charlie didn't like dancing much and tried to avoid it as much as possible.

"Trust me, you'll like the dancing I have in mind." She said with a wink causing him to raise his eyebrows.

Her suggestiveness obviously causing a spark of interest. Hermione was a beautiful woman, who wouldn't be interested in something like that, Bill thought to himself. Hermione stood up, her little black dress hugging her figure perfectly making Bill want to growl possessively as he saw how Charlie was leering at her. She took his hand and pulled him up out of his seat and dragged him over to the dance floor. The music changed to a sensual song, causing Hermione to smirk and start swaying in time to it, pressing herself back into Charlie. He put his arms on her hips and pulled her closer, whispering something in her ear making her blush.

Bill growled at the scene playing out before him. Harry and the twins looked at him in concern, not used to him being wolf-like in public. Bill tended to try and act as normal as possible in front of his family so as not to show how much his lycanthropye had changed him. But at the sight of his brother grinding on his mate and flirting with her making her blush had him completely uncaring of what his brothers thought of him. All he cared about was his mate. She was his, no one else's. His wolf was causing racket in his head, which was almost as distracting as watching Hermione enjoy herself with another man.

Bill was confused and conflicted by these feelings as they were new and unexpected. He had never felt so possessive and protective of someone before, not even Fleur and he was married to her. He had known previously that Hermione was his mate, he had come to terms with that and decided to slowly pursue her. He had been spending more and more time with her, getting to know her and such but he never expected such intense feelings to suddenly flood his person. He felt as though she belonged to him and no one else. Just that thought along, if voiced out loud to Hermione now would send her running far away from him.

She was totally independent and valued that above all else. He laughed at the thought of what she would say if he ever told her that was how he felt about her. She would go into a long feminist rant about how she belonged to no one and how she had rights and he couldn't help but admire her strength because of it. Bill was snapped out of his thoughts when Harry started to talk to the group.

"I never knew Hermione could be this wild." He said causing Bill to smirk. She definitely was a wild one. He liked her fire and passion, it made her who she was. Lately though, it had intensified.

"I think it suits her." Bill said, surprising the whole table.

"Really? I liked her better when she was a bookworm. Now she's practically dry humping one of my brothers. It's kind of weird if you ask me." Ron said and Bill turned back to the couple on the dance floor. Charlie was kissed in her next as she leaned back into him, obviously enjoying his ministrations. Bill's wolf bristled.

"He has his hands on our mate. His lips are touching her skin. You should kill him." His wolf suggested and Bill growled low in his chest, not loud enough to be heard by anyone at the stood and walked over to them tapping Charlie on the shoulder.

"Can I cut in?" He asked, trying and failing to keep the growl of warning out of his voice. Charlie, being the only one out of his brothers to actually take an interest in his new condition, knew that Bill was struggling to control his wolf, although he didn't exactly know why.

"Sure Bill. Why not?" Charlie said, disentangling himself from Hermione who kept on swaying to the music despite the lack of a dance partner. Charlie gave

Bill a look that said he would be explaining later and left the floor. Bill took Hermione in his arms and she smiled at him.

"You switched on me." She said.

"I was jealous. Char was hogging you all to himself." Bill said, deciding to be honest, not really thinking she would be able to remember anything in the morning anyway at the rate she was drinking. They danced and danced enjoying each others company. Bill especially enjoyed the part where he could feel her body pressed up against his own.

The night ended soon after, with everyone heading home in various states of intoxication until Charlie, Hermione and Bill were the only ones left. He took Hermione home by floo, and tried to be quite as he walked through Grimmauld Place, not wanting to wake anyone up. He found her room after bumping into an amused Remus in the kitchen and getting directions. He laid her down in her bed and took of her shoes before pulling the covers over her body and kissing her forehead.

'Good night my mate." He whispered and she sighed happily in her sleep as he exited the room and went home to his own bed.


	7. Chapter six

Chapter six HPOV

I woke up to a very energetic Sirius Black running into my room. He threw open my curtains letting in the sunlight, making me groan in annoyance and turn over, burrowing further into my pillows. He was being obnoxiously loud, stomping around the place.

"Her-mion-ee!" He all but yelled at me. "Wake up now, Kitten. It's breakfast time." He said and then stomped back out. I vaguely remember the night before, dancing with Charlie and Bill and then being taken home.

I remember Bill carrying me to bed and whispering, "Good night my mate." My addled brain filed the information away for a time when I could actually think properly. I, now fully awake thanks to the ex-convict, pulled myself out of bed when I smelt the bacon cooking down stairs. It always surprised me that the smell could carry all the way up to the fourth floor but it was a magically built house so no doubt it was done on purpose for this very reason.

I pulled on an oversized jumper from the washing hamper I had neglected to deliver to Remus's room the day before over my singlet top and shorts. I hopped to the door while putting on my slippers and then trudged all the way down to the kitchen. I was greeted by the sight of four very amused looking men, all of which I scowled at. Bill and Charlie, along with Remus and Sirius, were all looking at me in various stages of amusement, although, I noticed the hint of a frown on Bill's face for an unknown reason.

"Coffee." Was all I said as I sat down in between Sirius and Remus, the latter taking mercy on me and pouring me a cup of coffee. I pulled my legs up into my chest as I took the steaming hot beverage from Remus's hands, sighing in contentment as I took a sip. It revived my hung-over brain, giving it function and I sat in silence until I had finished the entire. This was something that everyone in the room knew that I needed before they started speaking to me, otherwise I would be grumpy and hardly good company for this time in the morning.I put the cup down on the table and then went about putting a plate of food together for myself as I actually listened to the conversation going on around me.

"So my application for Charms professor was accepted." Bill said casually and everyone at the table stopped what they were doing to look at him. If anyone else was there it would have looked comical. Charlie clapped him on the back as he said, "Congratulations Brother." Remus and Sirius exchanged an odd look before offering similar sentiments.

"That's great Bill."

"Good job man." They said respectively. They chatted about this and that for the rest of breakfast until everyone trickled out, leaving Bill and I alone together.

"Thanks for telling me about the position at Hogwarts Hermione." Bill said as we cleared the table of all the plates and dishes.

I smiled at him, kind of confused by is actions last night, and totally amerced in my thoughts about it that I hardly registered what he was saying. We worked in silence for a few more minutes until we had washed everything up. I made to go back up to my room but Bill grabbed my arm softly and turned me around to face him. He was closer than I felt comfortable with, not in a bad way though which was the confusing part. I realised that I liked being this close to him and it made me nervous.

I had never really been very good with intimate things, Ron being a prime example of how awkward I could be.

"Hermione, are you alright? You've been quiet all morning." He said, his voice soft and concerned. He looked down at me with his sapphire blue eyes and his long red hair hanging in his face.

"Fine, Why?" I said and winced at how distressed and squeaky my voice raised an eyebrow at my blatant lie.

"Are you sure?" He pressed, obviously wanting an answer.

"What did you mean by 'my mate'?" I asked quietly and his eyes widened in surprise. he was silent for a moment, a serious look on his usually friendly face.

"I didn't think you heard that." He said.

"Well I did and I what to know what you meant." I said, my usual fire coming back to me.

"It didn't mean anything." He said, his voice now devoid of all emotion but I could see a hint of panic in his eyes. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Fine." I said and he sighed in relief. I had a nagging feeling in the back of my head that it wasn't that simple but I left it for now.

"I'm going to be going into Diagon alley to get my things for school today, would you like to accompany me?" I asked, hoping to change the topic.

"I thought you would have done that ages ago and read through all your books too." Bill said with a snort.

"Things change. Did you really think I would stay a bookworm forever?" I said.

"Maybe." He said.

"Well maybe I'm not a bookworm now, maybe I'm a book dragon. I bet Charlie would like that." I said with a smirk causing Bill's eyes to flash gold and a growl to erupt from his throat. His nostril's flared and his breathing became rapid as he stared me down intensely.

"Well hello there wolf." I said causing him to give me a very mischievous grin that made him look even more attractive than usual. When his wolf was out and about, the scars that ran down the left side of his face looked more natural and in place. It was strange.

"Raff," he rasped, "My name is Raff." He said and I nodded in acknowledgement.

"And what brought you out today Raff?" I asked calmly, not wanting to do something that could get me into trouble.

Wolves were very interesting creatures, they acted on instinct and tended to like chasing prey. I didn't want to come of as innocent of weak least he see me as prey and try and catch me. God knows what he would do if he did. Just the though of it made me shiver.

"Jealousy. I was jealous of how you mentioned his brother."

"And why were you jealous, may I ask?"

"Bill doesn't want me to tell you. He is fighting very hard to gain control again.

"But I want to come out and play more. You should anger him more often. It is beneficial to me. I appreciate the freedom." He said matter-of-factly. I smiled at this, trying not to laugh.

"I'll keep that in mind." I responded vaguely, not wanting to make a promise I couldn't keep.

"You are much more beautiful when I can see you through my own eyes." He said causing me to blush.

I wondered why Bill's wolf would say something like that to me. He raised he hand from my arm and caught a stray curl in his hands, twisting it around his finger and tugging on it playfully. He took a step closer and inhaled deeply causing my blush to deepen.

"Hey Bil-" Said Charlie, coming into the kitchen only to see that we were in the middle of something. I took the opportunity to step away from Bill as Charlie smiled smugly.

Bill turned to Charlie and growled menacingly causing us both to freeze in shock.

"Raff. Calm down. He meant no harm." I said, trying to calm him, but he ignored me.

"You!" he said, pointing his finger at his brother. "Don't you ever touch my mate again." He growled and then there was silence, as he shook his head.

"There's that word again." I chimed as Bill and Charlie stared at each other in shock.

"Charlie, I'm sorry. I wasn't in control." Bill said, guilt and shame written on his face.

"No worries brother. I'll come back later. We really need to have that talk though." He said with a knowing look at Bill and then backed out of the room leaving Bill and I alone once more.

"Hermione I can explain." He said as he turned back to me.

"Really? Well that's news to me. At this point I think I like your wolf more than I like you. At least he was honest." I said with a huff. Bill ran his hands through his hair in frustration and started to pace.

"I just- I don't- Oh god. I need time, Hermione. Please. I'll tell you but not right now." He all but begged.

"How long do you need?" I asked still annoyed but seeing how much it affected him made me feel a tad sorry for him.

"I don't know." He said in annoyance.

"Well don't expect me to just sit and wait for you. I will be researching this and I will be coming back to you when I figure out what you're going on about."

"Can you just not? Please. I don't think that I can deal with this." He said pleadingly.

"I've never seen you like this before Bill. It's come out of no where and frankly, it's scaring me a bit. You lost control of your wolf because I mentioned your brother. I literally had an entire conversation with your wolf that was more forthcoming than any conversation we've had today. That's saying something." I was totally confused by his behaviour. What was making him so on edge and genuinely unhinged. I hated seeing him like this, it was unnerving. He was usually so collected. Even Remus was less in control than he was and he was usually a calm person.

Maybe he had finally snapped or maybe he was only just now, embarrassing his lycanthropy.

"I know. Just, can you just wait for me, please?" He asked and I sighed. It would be better to get the explanation from him than it would be to read it in a book. It was his story to tell, his secret to share so I should probably respect that.

"Fine. But you are not in my good books until you tell me, do you understand?" I said sternly and he whined. He actually whined.

I tried to hide the smile that sound brought to my face. It reminded me of Sirius when he didn't get his way. Him being an animagus meant he had dog like features and that included growling and whining like an animal. It was an instinctual response, one that he couldn't help but it never ceased to put a smile on my face. And now here I was standing in front of a werewolf, trying to have a serious conversation and I was trying not to smile when he whined at me. It was kind of surreal.

I turned and walked out of the room, making my way up to have a shower and get ready for the day. After I had finished preparing, I went back down stairs to see if Remus or Sirius wanted to go with my to Diagon Alley instead. I didn't really want to go by myself considering the Daily Profit and other magazines and such were still selling the 'Golden Trio saves the world' story and it had made Harry Ron and I a bit famous. I only ever got approached by people if I was on my own and it made me really uncomfortable to have all that attention.

I preferred to go with people so that I could avoid that kind of thing. I found both men in the library, Remus trying to read and Sirius annoying him because he was bored.

"Remmy, do something with me." Sirius asked in a whiny voice.

"No." Remus responded, not even looking up from his book.

"Please?" Sirius begged.

"No." Was the only response he was going to get, it looked like. I stood at the door, leaning on the door frame, watching the two interact with amusement. It always fascinated me how they could act like an old married couple but aren't actually together. I think that they would make a great pair but wasn't too sure on the sexuality of either man to even approach the subject with them. Remus hardly ever showed an interest in anyone, Tonks being an exception only because she was persistent and Sirius was one of the rare one's who didn't really care. He would fuck anything that breathes.

That's a bit harsh but I had seen both men and women come and go from his bedroom at all hours of the day so it was close to the truth.

"Sirius." I said and he bounced up onto his feet from the place where he was sitting next to Remus and came over to wrap an arm around my shoulder.

"Hermione, just the woman I wanted to see." He whispered seductively into my ear.

"No." I said and he pouted at me.

"But you didn't even know what I was going to say."

"But I can imagine what it was. No." I said and he sighed.

"You know me too well." He said disappointed.

"You're predictable. And this isn't the first time you've suggested something like that." I said and he laughed as he moved away from me and sat down next to Remus looked up from his book look at Padfoot in disapproval.

"You didn't." He said and Sirius just grinned at him.

"She's eighteen Sirius. What's wrong with you?" Remus said.

"She's beautiful Remus, can you really blame me for trying? It's not like she was going to actually say yes anyway." He said flashing me a wink. I frowned at them.

Did they really think that? Am I really that predictable? It's not like I'm a prude. I'd had sex with Ron. Although it was really awkward and not at all pleasurable; actually kind of like having sex with a brother rather than a lover. But that was only because of us, not because of me. Wasn't it?

"Still, it's irresponsible. What if Molly found out? She would skin you alive. You're meant to be taking care of her, not trying to get her into bed." Remus said and I was pulled out of my thoughts at that.

"I can take care of myself thank you very much. I moved out of the Burrow for independence not for someone else to take on the role of 'take care of Hermione.'" I said angrily.

"That's not what I mean. I was trying to say that he is meant to be an adult and you're still young, only just becoming a woman. It's inappropriate for him to be pursuing you." Remus said with a pained look on his face as he realised that he was digging himself a hole.

"Remus. I understand you're concern but I can assure you, you have nothing to worry about. I'm a predictable, boring bookworm, not even Sirius could convince me to become less of the prude you all think I am. God, you probably even think I'm still a virgin." I said, my anger spilling out, and my hair crackling with magic I couldn't control. They looked shocked at my outburst. I had never been one to express my anger, usually I just looked at a situation like I wasn't involved and made informed decisions from there but I had had enough of being cast off as never changing.

I want to be more that just the book worm, I want to grow and discover new things about myself. Everyone just assumed that I would be a bookworm forever and it was getting on my nerves.

"Are you though?" Sirius asked and I turned to glare at him. His curious grin faded from his face at the look on mine.

"I'm sorry Hermione. I meant' no disrespect. You can have sex with who ever you want." Remus said and I looked over at him to see that he looked very worried. I took a couple of deep breaths, calming myself. My hair stopped crackling and my hands stopped shaking and I sank into my favourite arm chair.

"I'm sorry. I'm just sick of people making assumptions about me." I said in a tired voice.

"S'alright Kitten. Totally understand. If you ever feel the need to... vent your frustrations, I can help if you want." Sirius said with a wink and I raised my eyebrow at him questioningly.

"Well I was thinking about taking up boxing, want to join me?" I asked and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Not exactly what I had in mind but I think it's a great idea. We can turn one of the empty bedrooms into a workout room if you want." He said and then we had a whole conversation about what we would need and how to go about the renovations.

By lunch time we had a bit of a plan and all three of us were getting hungry. Sirius suggested going out to eat and that reminded me of why I came up to the library in the first place.

"I almost forgot. I came up here to ask one of you to come into Diagon Alley with me. I need to get my school things ready for Monday." I said and they agreed.

"Right well lets go then. Lunch and then shopping. Great." Sirius said and we all left the house.


	8. Chapter seven

Chapter seven BPOV

I left Grimmauld place feeling conflicted, frustrated and somewhat annoyed. I lost control today. It was the first time it had happened in front of someone other than Fleur. It scared me that the simple mention of Charlie from Hermione could send me over the edge like that. I was dangerous when it came to her. But I couldn't stay away either. Every time I see her I feel our bond becoming me, encouraging me to claim what's mine, and it gets more and more intense every time.

But I can't seem to stay away from her. I tried once, last week. I told myself that it was the last time I would see her, to protect her from me, but then after a couple of days, I got so completely worked up that only the sight of her could calm me down. I had an overwhelming urge to see her and I could do nothing to stop my wolf controlling my body as we stalked to Grimmauld place to see her. I felt instantly calm when I caught her scent in the house and one hundred times better when I laid eyes on her.

It was like every frustration I had had the days before were no longer important, nothing else was important other than her shining smile and angelic voice. But now, every time I see her, my wolf howls in my mine, and I struggle to control the urge to kiss her, to fuck her, to bite her and to claim her. I was in a constant state of conflict and I didn't understand how one girl could have me wound up so completely that I couldn't focus on anything else but her.

I resigned myself to talk to Remus about it before I left. He is the only other werewolf I know, and I consider him to be an alpha of sorts. I needed a second opinion. I flooed back to the Burrow, lost in thought. I made it up to my room and shut the door behind me only to be pulled out of me thoughts by a confused looking Charlie sitting on my bed.

"Talk." He said and I sighed. I laid down next to him and stared up at the ceiling.

"What do you want to know?" I asked quietly.

"How long have you known that Hermione was your mate, and why didn't you tell me sooner?" He said.

"Since the first time I saw her after Greyback bit me. I smelt her on Ron but I didn't really know who the scent belonged to, and then at dinner that night I saw her. It was like she was the only person in the room. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. My wolf was excited. It was confusing. I didn't tell you because I can't even process the information let alone share it with someone else. I don't know what to do Charlie." I said desperately.

"Shit, Bill. That was over a month ago. Have you told her at least? You do seem to be spending a lot of time together lately." Charlie said thoughtfully.

"That's only because I can't stay away from her. I can't not be around her. It's physically impossible. I tried and I lost control and my wolf made me go to her. I've only ever lost control around her and it scares me that she has that much of an affect on me." I said.

"Wow. Was this what happened before, when you looked like you were going to rip me apart?"

"She said she had an entire conversation with my wolf. She also said that the wolf was being more honest with her than I was. Which is probably true. He's very straight forward about what he wants. Usually he's quiet, only making snarky comments every now and then but when she's in the room it's a constant stream of thoughts about what he wants to do to her, how he wants to fuck her and claim her. I can only just keep him reigned in and it's a lot of work."

"I think you should tell her." Charlie said and I sat bolt up right and looked at him incredulously.

"Why?" I asked, my voice forced and strained.

"Because she likes you. Every time you're in the room, her attention is focused on you in some way. She blushes every time you whisper in her ear and stares at you when you're not looking. She like's you too. Probably not as much as you like her but it's good enough. I say you go for it."

"No. She's too young. You don't understand what I'd be asking of her. I'd claim her as mine. That's a life time commitment Charlie. She would be mine forever, even if she didn't want to be. I can't ask her to give up her life so that I don't suffer. That's unfair. She has so much ahead of her, her life's just beginning. I'm nine years older than her for fucks sake. With the way that she's been acting lately, I doubt she's looking for a life long commitment." I said.

"Have you asked her that? Did you even consider letting her decide what she wants to do? You already know how you feel, but she doesn't even know that you're interested. It should be her decision as to where it goes."

"I don't want her to like me because she thinks she has to. I want her to like me because she likes me. Telling her about how she's my mate will make her feel obligated to be with to ease my suffering. She's too kind not to."

"I don't think she would. She's changed a lot about herself recently and the one thing that I've noticed the most is that she's not putting others before her anymore. She's putting herself first, doing what ever the fuck she wants just because she wants to. I don't think that she would feel obligated to do anything for you. But she values honest and if you don't tell her soon, she's not going to want anything to do with you."

"When the fuck did you get so wise Charlie?" I asked with a half-hearted smile.

"Since Madge." He said and I smiled sadly at him. Madge was this bird that Char had been seeing for a while after the triwiard tournament. We used to go to school with her but they hated each other then.

It was a complicated story that ended in a divorce even though they hadn't really intended to get married. Alcohol played a big part in that little fiasco. But that's a story for another time.

"I have to go now, Bill, but just remember what I said okay?" Charlie said and then left me to my thoughts.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter eight HPOV

The rest of the day went by quickly, with Remus, Sirius and I all doing our various piece's of shopping and getting the plans for our new gym underway. I liked being in their company. They were funny and charming and I couldn't help the smile that graced my face in their presence. The light banter between Sirius and I was easy and Remus found the whole thing amusing.

Sirius opened doors for me, carried my shopping bags and even offered to pay for my lunch, which I accepted because he's stubborn and I wouldn't have won that argument. He swung his arm over my shoulders and walked closer to me than I would have liked but I didn't mind as much as I thought I would. He had a nice body, tall and strong and I had a hard time trying not to melt into him and get lost in the intoxicating smell of parchment, leather and cigarettes.

I hardly noticed anyone else other than Remus and he was growing more and more amused as the day wore on. By the time I had all of my school supplies and we got home I was knackered. I briefly wondered why Sirius acted the way he did today, as he hardly ever had before, but just put it down to his erratic behaviour. I went straight to bed and collapsed.

I woke the next morning to laughter ringing out around the house. Curious as to what was so funny, I quickly got dressed into a pair of jeans and one of the Weasley's jumpers that I stole from the burrow and made my way down stairs to see what the noise was about. I entered the kitchen to see that Sirius, Remus and Harry were all gathered around reading the Daily Profit and I sighed, wondering what horrific lies that Skeeter woman has come up with now.

I sat down and poured myself a cup of tea, waiting for the boys to notice I was actually in the room. I observed them and smiled slightly when Remus's nose twitched as he inhaled. His eyes flew up from the paper and locked onto mine, flashing gold for a second before settling on his usual amber as he smiled at me, somewhat amused.

"Good morning Hermione." He said as he nudged Sirius in the ribs with his elbow, garnering his attention.

"Morning, Kitten." Sirius said, and I wondered why his eyes lit up when he saw me. They had never done that before. Harry flashed her a bright smile and grabbed the paper from Sirius, folding it up and stuffing it under his arm as he came around the table, kissing me on the forehead.

He obviously didn't want me to see what they had been looking and I hoped to god that it wasn't about me. You'd think that trapping the strumpet in a jar for a long period of time would be enough to make her stop harassing you and yet, here we were. I was going to have stern words with that woman when i saw her next.

"What's in the paper that you're trying to keep from me?" I asked after a while and they all turned to me in various states of humour. Remus looked wary of my reaction but still amused, Harry looked like he was trying not to laugh and Sirius just looked smug.

"There was an article..." Remus trailed of.

"It wasn't very flattering..." Harry continued.

"Congratulations. I'm now a hundred years old. Just get on with it. Better yet, just give me the blasted paper and I'll read it myself." Before anyone could do anything I had the paper in my hands and I was reading th head line. I stared at the words on the page, my face distorting in anger. That vile woman. I'm going to kill her. There was no way in hell it looked like I was on a date with Sirius, Remus was with us for gods sake.

My hair started to spark and my hands scrunched the paper up, throwing it into the air as I waved a hand. It burst into flames and the ashes floated down on the table as the three men stared at me.

"When did you learn to do wandless magic?" Remus asked, as he picked up a piece of toast now covered in the remnants of the newspaper and grimaced slightly.

"It's a work in progress actually. I've never done anything quite as big as that." I said, staring at the place the newspaper hand been. Everyone was quiet for a few minutes, not really knowing what to say now.

"Look Hermione. I know it was bad. But maybe it won't be that bad, having people think we're together. At least I won't have all those floozies hanging off of me all the time." Sirius said and my eyes snapped over to him.

He flinched under my gaze. Before I could reply Bill stormed into the room, eyes alight as the wolf shone through. He locked his gaze on me and growled.

"Tell me this isn't true." He demanded, referring to the newspaper in his hands.

"It is-" Sirius started and I cut him of with a sharp look. He backed down.

"You know better than to believe the things you read in the paper Bill. But so what if it was? My personal life is none of your business." I said and he took a step forward, another growl ripping from his throat. Remus stood up and moved in front of me, facing Bill, his stance defensive.

"Yes it is. You are my mate. You are mine." He growled again and Sirius and Remus shared a look before looking back at Bill with renewed interest.

"But you haven't told me what that means. And until you do, I can do what ever the fuck I want. You don't control me Bill, and you sure as hell don't own me." I said and Bill looked confused and annoyed at this.

"I think you should leave Bill." Remus said, his voice commanding and Bill immediately did as he was told. Remus was his alpha and he couldn't not do as he said. With one last pleading look towards me, he left.

The entire room was silent for some time as they took in the information presented by Bill's surprise visit. Remus was the first to speak up.

"Hermione, do you know what he was talking about?" He asked.

"Not really. He's been weird around me since after the battle. Sure we're friends now but he's not like he was before. His wolf says that-"

"Wait, did you say his wolf? When did you talk to his wolf?" Sirius interrupted, looking somewhat surprised and vaguely concerned.

"Yesterday. I had an entire conversation with him. Bill was really shaken, got jealous when I mentioned something about Char and then the wolf completely took over." I smiled when i thought about Raff. He was sweet, in a weird way.

"He told me that I should anger Bill so that he could come out and play more often. He also said I was much more beautiful when he was looking at me through his own eyes." I said with a blush.

"Anyway, " I continued, shaking away the fluttery feelings in my stomach when I thought of the moment we had shared. "Bill won't tell me what it's all about until he comes to terms with it or something." I said and they looked at me for a moment.

"Right." Sirius said looking at Remus for direction as he often does when he's out of his depth.

"I think we should leave Bill to tell you. It's between you and Bill. I especially shouldn't interfere. Bill would become extremely territorial if I did." Remus said as he laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed comfortingly, before disappearing up the stairs and out of sight.

"I think I'm more confused now than I was before." Harry said. I agreed with him.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter ten HPOV

Sooner than Hermione would have liked, she was back at Hogwarts and ushering excited first years up to the Gryffindor dormitories. It was just after the welcome feast and she was tired. She'd had to run the prefect meeting on the train, which took about an hour and a half. Draco had been mysteriously missing and she wondered if the head boy had missed the train. She had then partolled said train to make sure that all the students were behaving as they should. She had had to break up several Slytherin VS Gryffindor duels and had to save a couple of first years from themselves as they tried out unknown magic in their compartments. She had taken the time to sit down and show them how to cast the spell they were attempting properly after she had restored one of the girls hair back to her head. When she left they had all had different coloured hair.

She had been avoiding Bill, even though during dinner, he had tried to catch her eye. She wasn't sure why but she was still angry at him for assuming what the prophet said about her and Sirius was true. She wasn't sure whether it was because she thought he knew better than that or because he came to her demanding answers like he had a right to know. So what if she was dating Sirius? It's not any of his business. Not until he told her what was going on with him.

She shook her head in exasperation , not wanting to think about it. Suddenly she slammed into a someone, and fell back onto her arse. She groaned in pain, and looked up to see a sheepish Malfoy looking down at her. He offered his hand out to help her up but she just looked at if for a moment. Finally, she decided to take it. She was sick of fighting with him. All these years they had been feuding over nothing and even if he wasn't going to make an effort, she wanted peace between them. He helped her stand, and then took a step back, fidgeting nervously as he looked at his feet. Hermione had never seen the usually confident and cocky boy looking so nervous and shy.

"Are you alright?" He asked, looking back up at her with a small smile. Hermione narrowed her eyes at his out of character kindness.

"Fine." She said suspiciously.

"Look, I'm sorry that I wasn't at the Prefect meeting on the train." He started.

"It's fine. Being back here is stressful. I know how it is." Hermione said and he looked a little relieved that she wasn't going to shout at him or tell him to leave her alone.

"I want to apologise to you." He said suddenly after a few moments of awkward silence. Hermione cocked her head to the side, studying him, trying to make sure he was being sincere.

"I've been such an arsehole to you since first year. There is no excuse for how I acted. All I can say is that it was how I was brought up. I didn't know any different until I became a death eater and saw what those beliefs represented. They did aweful things to people just because they had a different heritage. It was barbaric and digusting as was my actions against you." He said, looking her right in the eye, pleading with her to forgive him.

"I am truely sorry and hope that, even though I don't deserve it, you'll forgive me. I don't want to fight anymore, I don't want to be like my father. I saw what that did to him and look where he is now. I don't want to end up like that." He said and Hermione could hear a croak in his voice, as if he were really upset by what he was admitting. Hermione didn't know how to react. She hadn't been expecting him to apologise to her. If anything, she expected him to be exactly the same. Rude and obnoxious, Arrogant, confident and prejudice but here he was.

"Are you serious about this?" She asked him quietly and she saw the hope shine in his eyes.

"Yes." He replied and Hermione smiled a small smile.

"I forgive you. I'm tired of fighting." She said and Malfoy looked relieved. He grabbed my upper arms and moved a little closer.

"Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me." He said.

Hermione hugged him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him close. He froze for a moment, unsure of what to do. She was sure that he had never had that much affection from his family. He was unused to physical affection. Hermione wasn't all that comfortable with it either, her parents having been cold and distant but the Weasley's had soon cured that for her. They were huggers and it was unavoidable.

She didn't relent when he didn't react but soon he relaxed. His arms settled around her shoulders and he rested his chin on her head, being so much taller than her. She didn't know how long they stood like that but after a while, she felt as though they would be alright, they may even become friends.

They pulled away when they heard a cat meow around the corner. They shared a look and then grinned at each other, making their way quickly to the dorms that they now shareda s head boy and girl. The both paused at their doors, looking at each other briefly.

"Thank you Hermione." Malfoy said and then disappeared into his bedroom.


	11. Chapter 10

((I've taken so long to update this story and for that I am sorry. I've been really busy lately with life and new fandom ideas taking over my brain. I've been let go from my previous job, started a Diploma, taken up knitting, started writing Marvelverse stories that evolve around Darcy Lewis (which you should really check out) and moved back into my mothers house. If anyone knows of any job opportunities in Adelaide, Australia let me know.

I had a stroke of inspiration today that made me reignite this story. I have plans and hope to update more regularly but I won't make any promises. ))

The school year started slowly, as everyone got back into their routines and settled into being back at the school where so many horrible things had happened in the past. Hermione in particular took a long time to adjust. She had nightmares about the war most nights. The first couple of times she woke screaming and Draco banging on her door wondering what was wrong. It took months for her dreams to simmer into more comfortable settings.

The course work was relatively easy and it was nice to be back in the familiar world once more. Hermione had grown in her time away from the school, but now that she was back, she appreciated it all the more. The serene atmosphere was peaceful. It helped that there was no constant threat of war over her head and she could tell that all the other students were thriving with that out of the way too.

Hermione's relationship with Draco had progressed from silent understanding to a real friendship. She noticed that he didn't really talk to anyone the first few weeks, not even his fellow Slytherins. He was quiet and subdued, much different from the cocky, racist boy he had been before. At first she didn't know if she liked the change. She didn't like his silence and kept finding herself expecting to see him bullying first years in the corridors or holding court in the great hall but he was nowhere to be seen. In fact, Hermione noticed that he hardly ever went into the great hall at all. He wasn't eating. It led to an intervention.

She made sure that he was with her at every meal, even if she had to venture into his room to pull him out by the ear which she did often. She went so far as to sit at the Slytherin table at meal times to make sure he ate something. By the time December came around he had gained his weight back and looked less skeletal. Hermione noticed that he grew taller and broader as well, becoming more manly and less gangly. It was a good look for him and others were noticing too. He smiled more often and talked to her about menial things.

They started studying together in the library and shared book recommendations. Hermione was pleased to discover that he was an avid history fan and that he was interested in muggle literature. So they traded; Jane Eyre for The History of the Giant Wars; Beowulf for The Comprehensive Guide to Centaur Tribal History and so on and so forth.

Her relationship with Draco wasn't the only thing that started slowly. Her interaction with Bill, or Professor Weasley was practically non-existent at first. Hermione justified it as him being busy with preparation for classes and getting the hang of teaching and the like but after three months of not even a word to him other than in class, she'd finally had enough of it.

It was a Friday evening when she'd worked herself up into a rage and barged into his office to demand answers.

"William Perseus Weasley why are you ignoring me?" She said. She imagined she looked a right state of crazy, especially since Headmaster McGonagall was sitting across from a surprised Bill looking amused.

"Ah, well that's my cue to leave." Minerva said, both of them standing and the woman moving to the door.

"Thank you for the advice Headmaster." Bill said and then Minerva was gone.

"Hermione, please, come in." Bill said dryly, as he sat back down in his chair. He looked tired, she noticed as she shut the door behind her and made her way to the seat that McGonagall just vacated.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd be with anyone…" She said ashamed of her rash actions.

"Don't worry about it." He said as he scrubbed a hand over his face and Hermione noticed the days old stubble that covered his jaw. She was surprised that she liked the look on him and was even more surprised to find herself thinking him handsome.

"So…" She said, unsure now that the earlier determination had left her.

"I might have been avoiding you a little bit but mostly it's been an adjustment figuring out this teaching thing." He said finally after a moment of silence.

"I'm sorry. I should have realised. I just got so annoyed with you…" Hermione replied.

"I know things between us are complicated at the moment and I'm still trying to figure them out." He said.

"I know. I just- I don't like not seeing you." She mumbled and he looked up to her sharply at her words.

"I don't like not seeing you either." He said with a small smile.

"Well then, we'll just have to do something about that." She said with a bright smile.

"Yes we will. But right now I have to get back to grading if I want to have some time to myself over this weekend." He said and Hermione nodded.

"We could have tea tomorrow afternoon?" Hermione suggested.

"That sounds great." Bill responded as he started to unravel a scroll of parchment from a huge pile next to him. They sat in silence a moment as Bill graded papers and Hermione watched him. She didn't know when she started looking at Bill this way but she found that it was more appreciative. She liked the way he had a bump in his nose, as if it had been broken at one point. She liked the slope of his shoulders, broad and muscular. She found herself wondering what his hands would feel like on her skin and hers in his hair. She found herself wondering a lot of things, most of them innocent but some of them entirely inappropriate.

Soon she realised that she was meant to be meeting Draco in the Library for a study session and heads meeting. She was late.

"Shit. I have to go." Hermione said suddenly, standing up and hurrying out of the room.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She heard Bill call after her in a confused voice as she flew down the corridor in the direction of the Library.


	12. Chapter 11

Hermione ran down the corridors of Hogwarts, unsure why she was in such a hurry. It wasn't like Draco hadn't been late to one of their study sessions on more than one occasion. He had even not turned up at all sometimes. He gave no excuse or reason and Hermione had come to accept that sometimes, when everything and everyone got to be too much, he needed to be by himself. But that didn't mean she was going to start doing the same. She prided herself on her punctuality, among other things. If she started being tardy now, she knew that it would become a habit she couldn't break. Hermione didn't really want to be known as the one who was always late. Ron was like that and it annoyed her to no end.

She arrived at the library two minutes after six, to see that Draco was sitting at their usual table. But he wasn't alone. Ginny Weasley was sitting across from him, smiling a little amused smile down at her book as she pointedly didn't look at the blonde across from her. Hermione took in this new information quietly as she noticed Draco talking in low murmurs making the red head's smile grow ever larger.

"Granger. You're late." Draco said, his voice teasing and light.

"Mm." She said as she sat down next to him, wondering what Bill was thinking of her now. She'd basically ran into his office, screamed at him, said she missed him and then ran out again. She was completely mental, that was for sure.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Ginny said, sitting up straight and pulling her attention away from Draco.

"Well there are a few wondering around the castle, you shouldn't really be surprised." She said absently as she pulled out her books and pens from her bag that Draco had brought with him. She must have left it in their common room when she stormed off to confront Bill.

"Ha Ha, very funny." Draco said shaking his head as he went back to pretending to read while he stole glances as Ginny.

"I just went to talk to Bill actually." She said and she heard a thunk as Draco dropped his book on the table as he turned to look at her expectantly. She had come to realise over her short friendship with the Slytherin, that he was a gossip.

"You mean Bill as in Professor Weasley, who you've been dancing around in class for the last three months?" Draco said and now Ginny was invested in the conversation too.

"You're interested in my brother 'Mione?" The ginger asked with an innocent look on her face.

"There's a lot going on there that she's not telling us little Gin." Draco said all the while staring at Hermione. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Since when did you two get so chummy?" Hermione asked, trying to deflect the conversation onto something else.

"Since I realised he wasn't a dick anymore." Ginny said.

"Since I realised she wasn't dating Potter anymore." Draco said a beat afterwards. Hermione did a double take.

"Wait, what happened to you and Harry?" She asked the red head. Harry hadn't told her about their break up in any of the letters he'd sent to her over the months.

"We didn't want the same things anymore. Or maybe we both wanted the same things; to have fun and explore out sexuality and be free." She said dramatically waving her arms around as she spoke.

"When did this happen?" Hermione asked.

"Uh… October?" Ginny said it more like a question than an answer, whether because she couldn't remember or because she didn't want her to know remained to be seen.

"Why didn't either of you tell me?" Hermione asked. She was hurt that she was left out of the loop like that. She was fine with them deciding to go down different paths. It made sense really, they were both young and had just survived a war, of course they were going to want to express themselves and let loose with some people. Hermione couldn't see anyone that she was going to be with now as being with them forever. It seemed like too long a time; to restricting and suffocating to be with one person and only one.

"I didn't really tell anyone. Draco found me crying the night that it happened and it was kinda obvious what was going on but other than that, I didn't say anything." Ginny said and Hermione just sighed.

"You seem okay now though?" She asked.

"It was a bit rough at first, ending something that had been a lifeline for so long, but Harry and I are still on good terms, so…" She trailed off.

"Good. I'm glad that you're doing what you want." Hermione said standing up. "I'm just going to go and get some books to read. Research." She said and then wandered into the stacks.

She went to the magical beings' section and started to look for books on werewolves. Ever since Bill had started acting weird around her, Hermione had been itching to do some research on werewolves. The last time she had looked into them it had been in her third year and she was too shy to broach any of the more personal information regarding them. Now she was done waiting for Bill to pluck up the courage and tell her what was going on. So she grabbed a couple of books and set to reading.

The next day she had tea with Bill. It was weird, at least Hermione thought so. They were extra polite and courteous to each other, lacking their usual warmth and ease that seemed to flow naturally between them. It put Hermione on edge.

"So, how are your classes going?" Bill asked her, sounding like Mr Weasley when she visited for holidays at the burrow.

"They're good. It's all good." She said quietly as she observed him over her mug. He looked tired and stressed and Hermione found herself wanting to tuck him into bed and make him rest. She supposed he would get some rest when the holidays started in a few days.

"Are you going home for the Holiday?" She asked him, already aware of her plans to stay at Grimmauld place to get away from the school for a while. The only problem she had with that plan was that she would be leaving Draco behind on his own.

"I will be yes. Are you?" He asked and Hermione had a brief flash of her room at her parent's old house. A flash of pain at their absence flew threw her and Bill flinched, almost as if he could feel it.

"I'll be with Remus and Sirius. But we'll all be going to the Burrow for Christmas day. Your mother insisted." Hermione said. She took a sip of her tea to fill the silence that captured the room.

"Well, it was nice to see you today Bill but I have some homework to get done before the break so…" She said, wanting to leave more than anything in the world. She hoped at some point they would be normal again, though she really didn't think that they'd ever been normal to begin with.

"I'd hate to keep you." He said waving a hand at the door dismissively, a small smile curling at his lips. Hermione got up to leave heading towards the door. She turned at the last minute, looking back at the man that so vexed her.

"It really was good to talk to you Bill." She said honestly and they shared a secret smile before she left.


	13. Chapter 12

The holidays came and so with it the Grimmauld place library. Hermione locked herself away researching as much as she could find on werewolves. She found a lot of interesting information. Werewolves have a slightly higher core temperature; they retain their heightened senses in human form; they crave a pack mentality in human form often forming packs subconsciously within their social groups when not surrounded by their own kind; they mate for life. Bingo. Hermione took a second look at the book containing that last bit of information. It was called the mating habits of werewolves and Hermione was curious. Raff had used that word in relation to her… Could she be his mate? Was that what he meant?

" _Werewolves are particular creatures. They are partial to habit and familiarity. They also value compatibility. This is a major cause of violence among members of packs all over Europe today. The leaders of the packs are incompatible, therefore disagreements are a regular occurrence and usually result in violence. Another example of this would be how they reproduce. They can't have children unless their bodies recognise their mate and produce a chemical reaction that allows for pregnancy to occur. A werewolf's mate has everything to do with chemistry and biology. They are a perfect match in every way. They smell perfect, a young werewolf lucky enough to find his mate once described it as smelling like every good thing that had ever happened to you personified. Another said he smelt like home, and another like her amortentia potion exactly. My studies in the werewolf community show that mates are rare and revered. A mated couple are considered married once the mating connection has been sealed usually through a sexual encounter and a bite that claims them. It is binding and forever."_

Hermione stared at the pages. No wonder Bill was hesitant to tell her anything about what was going on. If she was his mate, then he couldn't resist the pull.

"Hermione are you alright?" Remus asked and she jumped in surprise, not having noticed that he'd entered the room.

"I just… I don't know." She said as she stared at the pages in front of her. Remus peered over her shoulders and understood as soon as he saw what she was reading.

"Ah… Well I could see how it's a bit shocking to finally have figured it out." He said and Hermione snapped the book shut and turned to him. He had folded his long limbs into the corner of the couch beside her and was looking at her with a hard to read expression. He knew something she didn't.

"What do you mean finally?" She asked her brows furrowing in annoyed confusion.

"I just didn't think it would have taken you this long is all. The books have always been here and yet you haven't looked at them until now." He elaborated.

"Bill asked me not to." She said looking guiltily down at her hands.

"That's not fair to you though is it?" He said with a twitch of his lips, as if he wanted to smile.

"It really isn't. But now I know what's going on." She said, looking back up at him. Hermione felt like she wanted to run away. She felt trapped and like her life was stuttering to a stop in front of her. But she also felt a spike of heat at the thought Bill. Her thoughts towards the ginger wolf had turned increasingly saucy over the weeks and she felt a small thrill at him being interested in her in that way.

"You look like you're making an internal list of pro's and con's." Remus said clearly amused.

"I'm not but that sounds like a good idea right about now." She said, making him laugh. Hermione had always thought the man all the more handsome when he was laughing. His eyes crinkled at the corners and he looked youthful. It always made her smile.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to Remus." Hermione confided and the man softened his gaze.

"Let it happen naturally. The whole point of mating is that it's meant to be. Like a soulmate." He said and Hermione sighed.

"I don't like that I don't have a choice." She said quietly.

"You do Hermione. You'll find that even if you decided to go different paths, yours will always lead back to him and his to you." He said. He seemed so certain that Hermione decided not to question him.

Later that night when Hermione was in her room, she found a package on her bed. Curious and cautious, she opened it with her wand. As she did so, a note fell to the floor. She picked it up.

 _Dear Hermione,_

 _Fred and I are adding some new products to our adult line and thought you might care for some freebees. Help take the edge off and all that._

 _Hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think._

 _George._

 **Hermione,** honestly curious now opened the box to find various items that used for self-pleasure. A magically enhanced vibrator, a packet of daydream potions, some lotion that enhances sensitivity and a couple more things that she didn't recognise. Hermione picked up the vibrator and tapped it with her wand, wondering what it could do and found that it started to vibrate intensely in her hand.

"Hermione are you in there?" Called a voice that Hermione knew to belong to Bill. She swore as she chucked the vibrator back into the box after turning it off, and turned around trying to look casual as Bill opened her door.

"Yeah, Hi." She said awkwardly and smiled at him. He was looking rather more casual that she was used to after seeing him in his teaching robes for months on end. He was wearing ripped black jeans, a Henley and a leather jacket, his long orange hair up in a bun and the start of a beard growing on his face. Hermione couldn't help but think about how it would feel brushing across her skin and blushed a deep shade of red. She saw Bill inhale deeply as he stepped into the room and raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on her slight arousal.

"What's up?" She asked him.

"I wanted to see what you were doing for dinner tonight?" He said slowly taking in her stiff posture and the way she was holding onto the box behind her back.

"That sounds great. Can you give me five minutes to get ready?' She asked him, eager to get him out of her room. If was a system over load having him here, where she slept, and did other things… As well as the surprise of the twin's gift.

"What have you got behind your back?" He asked her and Hermione stuttered as she tried to dismiss him.

"Wha- what are you talking about?" She asked him but he just grinned and advanced on her playfully.

"It's nothing honestly." She said as she moved around the bed to get away from him. She tripped over a shoe that was laying on the ground and the dropped the box, the content spilling out over the floor. Hermione buried her face in her hands as Bill bent down to pick them all up. Hermione watched him from between her fingers as his grin was wiped off his face. He was so close to her that she could feel his breath on her thighs, just below where her denim shorts cut off. She had a brief flash of grabbing handfuls of his hair and pulling him closer to her core but dismissed it instantly.

"Why do you need all this?" He growled at her, making her stomach flip at the obvious presence of the wolf at the edge of his control.

"I—I…" Hermione stuttered as Bill stood up in front of her, towering over her. She couldn't form words as he crowded her. She could feel his body heat radiating from him and it made her mind go blank. His eyes went gold. Hermione gulped. She was in so much trouble.

"I could pleasure you better than this ever could." Raff growled at her.

"I don't think…" Hermione tried to say but he interrupted her.

"I could leave you satisfied." He practically purred as he bent down to whisper in her ear. She could feel his lips graze over the shell of her ear and shivered at the light feel of it.

"I would make you scream." He said before kissing her neck, right on her pulse point. Hermione melted. She sat down hard as her legs gave out underneath her. Bill seemed to gain a semblance of control and backed away to give her some space. She took deep breaths as she came back to herself again. Then the outrage hit her.

"It was a gift from the twins. I found it sitting on my bed just now." She said.

"Hmm." Was his only reply as he went about packing the box up.

"I don't see how it's any of your business anyway. I can pleasure myself however I want." Hermione said, emboldened by her frustration with the man in front of her. He said nothing as he left the room, box in hand, closing the door behind himself.

"You can forget about dinner!" Hermione yelled after him. There was no reply.


	14. Chapter 13

Hi everyone,

I felt that a scene from Bill's point of view was necessary to understand his behaviour and I hope this did that a little bit.

I also wanted to put in something brotherly about Charlie looking out for Bill because I thought it'd be cute and confronting and honest. That scene gives you a bit more of an understanding as to what Hermione is thinking about being Bill's mate. l will develop Hermione's relationship with Charlie further on in the fic.

I will apologise now for not including any Draco in this chapter but be sure that he will appear in the next one along with Ginny and their 'thing'.

I would also like to point out that I just now realised that I missed out Christmas at the burrow which I will work in somehow in the next chapter, maybe as a flash back. I promise to make it awkward and a little bit saucy all at once.

You can also look forward to some Harry in the next chapter, though I don't know exactly how as yet, just that the story is sorely lacking some chosen one page time.

Enjoy,

XXGemmortiaXX

* * *

Bill was furious. He knew deep down that he was being irrational and controlling. But he couldn't help it. It was in his nature to be protective of his mate. His wolf had already accepted Hermione as his and there was nothing he could do to take that back. Not that he really wanted to. Hermione was one neck of a witch and he had always admired her courage and intellect. Recently he had been enlightened to her beauty. She made his hands shake every time she was around, wanting to reach out and pull her closer, to feel her skin against his. She made his blood sing with happiness just by her mere presence and Bill was addicted to the feeling.

So seeing her with something that was made to bring her pleasure, the very thin that he lived to do, made him angry. It made his so made that she had to get her kicks off with a piece of plastic when he was right there, practically begging to take care of. He wanted to worship her, explore every inch of her and commit her to memory. He wanted to make her feel like she was the most important person in the world. Because to him, she was. So he had taken the box full of toys and things, and stormed of in a huff, intent on confronting the twins about appropriate gift giving.

He didn't really remember how he got to their shop but soon enough he was banging on their door.

"Hold your horses. Bloody hell." One of them said as they made their way to the door and opened it for him. Bill could see the surprise on his brothers face when he saw him standing there but invited him in non the less. Bill's first instinct upon seeing the one that gave his mate such a gift was to punch his in the face, but given the fact that Fred was family, he refrained. Pack mentality and all that.

"Bill, my buddy, my pale. What can I do you for?" Fred said as he led them to the workshop out back where George was working. Fred sat back down at his work station and continued to fiddle around with some gadget or another. Bill placed the box down in front of George and he could feel his eyes starting to grow warm and his control slipping as he asked,

"Why would you give such a thing to Hermione?" His voice was gruff and gravelly, practically a growl and it made the men jump to attention, suddenly taking what he had to say seriously. Or as seriously the jokers could, given their personalities.

"I would just like to point out that while your concern for our lovely little bookworm is heart-warming, you don't really have any authority over her." George said as he picked up the box and looked inside.

"And also, I'm pretty sure that you don't get to dictate when she wanks and what she uses to do it with." Fred added, looking interested now. Bill just stared at them, waiting for an answer, not really sure what he was expecting to hear.

"We thought that she could use the relief. She's always wound up so tight and stressed." Fred said.

"And we thought it would be nice to get her something that would help with that. Plus, they were new products and we asked for feedback as well so it's a win for everyone." George said.

"What I want to know is why you think it's any of your business." Fred said, sitting back in his chair with his arms behind his head and a mischievous grin on his face.

"Might you have a thing for Miss Granger?" George asked.

"Is our big brother in love with the Gryffindor Princess?" Fred asked.

"Do you have a kink for student teacher relationships William?" George asked.

"Do you fantasise about taking her on your desk?"

"Giving her detention and punishing her real good?"

Bill was about to burst; he was so angry at the twins. He didn't think that they knew what they were getting into with all their suggestive comments but Bill was about to rip one of their heads off. Or both. He was seriously considering it, family and pack be damned. A deep threatening growl ripped through him and they immediately shut up. Bill was grateful.

"You shouldn't talk about her like that." He said, and they nodded, eyes wide in shock. Bill could smell their fear in the air, though it was tinged with curiosity.

"Don't send her anything else." He said.

"You got it brother." Fred said.

"We'll do nothing of the sort." George agreed. Bill felt the fight leave him and he sighed, running a hand through his hair. He hadn't known he would be that possessive with her. What was she going to think of him now?

"Do you want to fill us in on what that was all about?" Fred asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

"I'm a mess aren't I?" Bill laughed humourlessly. The twins shared a look before nodded simultaneously.

"I'm- Hermione is- It's complicated." He tried.

"Isn't it always?" George sympathised.

"You have now idea." Bill replied.

"Well we're here if you need us." George said.

"Even if you don't need us."

"We'll be here."

"To annoy you."

"And to make sure you're not going to hurt Hermione."

Bill was glad that they cared so much.

* * *

 _Dear Hermione,_

 _I would like to apologise for my actions last week. I was out of line. I had no right to be so horrible to you. I hope that you can forgive me._

 _Yours,_

 _Bill_

Hermione stared at the piece of paper in her hands. She didn't know what to think of it. He didn't return any of the products the twins gave her, which she wasn't surprised about but the fact that he apologised? That was what got to her.

The flowers were a nice touch, violet blooming hyacinth's. Hermione had recently read a herbology book about the meaning of flowers and this was clearly asking for forgiveness.

Hermione was uncertain whether she was going to give it so soon. Maybe she would make him work for it a while longer. A bunch of flowers isn't going to fix everything and if he thought that it would he was wrong.

Hermione went about her day without replying to Bill's owl. It was the day before term started again and so Hermione was packing her trunk. She had just gone down stairs to look for one of her text books and she had been searching all over for it and couldn't find it anywhere. A voice cleared its throat just as Hermione had bent over to check under the coffee table. She stood abruptly and spun to see Charlie leaning on the door frame looking at her appreciatively. A blush spread over her cheeks at the thought of him checking out her ass as she had been bending over.

"Well hi there Hermione." He said with a cheeky grin.

"Hi Char. What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.

"Aw, aren't you happy to see me?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Sorry. I just didn't expect to see you here…" She said smiling guiltily at him.

"Nah, I'm just teasing. I came by to see if Sirius was about. I had a couple things I needed to talk to him about but he's not here." Charlie said.

"Ah, well then." Hermione said, not sure what to say.

"Are you busy right now? Want to have a cup of tea?" He asked and Hermione agreed. She liked Charlie, thought she hadn't spent a lot of time with him. They moved into the kitchen and Hermione went about readying the kettle and mugs.

"How do you take it?" She asked him.

"Black, two sugars." He said as he sat down at the table behind her. When it was ready she took both the mugs to the table and sat Charlie's in front of him as she took a seat.

"Thanks." He said. There was a moment where they took the first sips of their drinks and basked in their warmth. Until Charlie broke the silence.

"So you and Bill, Huh?" He said and Hermione curled up in her seat, knees to her chest defensively.

"What about me and Bill?" She said, her voice closed off and wary.

"I just want to know where you stand in the whole situation." He said, obviously being vague on purpose.

"And what situation is that exactly? Because Bill certainly isn't keeping me in the loop." She said aggressively.

"He hasn't told you yet?" He said, sounding surprised and frustrated.

"No, he hasn't. Why can't he just get it over with all ready? I'm starting to get tired of waiting." Hermione said and she found it to be the truth.

"So does that mean you don't know? Or that Bill just hasn't told you anything?" Charlie asked, ever the astute one.

"Why should I tell you? So that you can give me some fucked up version of the shovel talk? Seriously Charlie?" Hermione said. She liked Charlie, she really did but this was none of his business. Things like this made Hermione hate the Weasley family. They were always in each other's business and thinking they had a right to meddle. Hermione was more the private, sufferer in silence type.

"I want to know that my brother isn't going to be hurt." He said as he placed his cup of tea down and leaned back in his chair.

"What about me? Do you care if he is the one hurting me? Because right now, that's what it feels like." She said.

"How do you mean?" He asked her.

"Just last week Bill came barging into my room and yelled at me for having a fucking vibrator and some other things that the twins sent me in my possession. He then proceeded to confiscate them like I'm some child that needs to be taken care of. He's possessive and he has unpredictable mood swings and I just don't know what to think." Hermione said.

"Everyone has their faults Hermione. I'm not saying that you should dismiss them but maybe you could focus on the positive things about him instead. Like how kind he is, how compassionate, how caring, how funny and how daring he is." Charlie said and Hermione snorted.

"By the sounds of it, you're already in love with him." Hermione said through her light laughter.

"Ha ha very funny." Charlie said as Hermione calmed down.

"I understand what you're saying Charlie but sometimes the good things don't out way the bad. I haven't seen enough of him to know if they do. He needs to be more open with me, needs to reign in his wolf long enough for us to have a decent conversation that doesn't end in him storming out of the room in a tantrum." Hermione said.

"Have you ever thought that maybe you need to say all of this to him?" Charlie said.

"I suppose you're right." Hermione agreed.

"I'm always right. It's part of my charm." Charlie said with a grin and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"It's your only charm, and not a very good one at that." Hermione replied.

"Ouch, Hermione, that hurt." Charlie said a hand over his heart.

"You've been hurt worse, I'm sure." Hermione said.

"You're not wrong." He said.

"Well, are we done with the interrogation now?" Hermione asked him and he smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, we're done." He agreed.

"Good. Now finish your tea and get out." Hermione said as she stood up and went back to looking for her text book.


	15. Chapter 14

"Draco!" Someone screamed in pleasure just as Hermione entered her dorm room. She heard rhythmic thump of a head board hitting a wall as she made her way over to her room to unpack her things. A blush rose on her cheeks as the erotic sound got louder as well as the collective moaning until what Hermione assumed was a climax came and went. Blissful silence, Hermione thought ruefully as the occupants of Draco's bedroom stayed quiet. She went about unpacking her books and clothes and other miscellaneous things, not wanting to interrupt whatever it was that was going on in the other room of their suit.

"Hermione!" A red headed bundle of energy yelled, bouncing into her room and jumping onto her back, hugging her tightly. Hermione hadn't heard the girl come in.

"Ginny, how was the rest of your holiday?" Hermione asked, as she had seen the girl and the rest of the Weasley's at Christmas. Which had been a disaster, in Hermione's mind anyway.

"Good, great even. I have so much to tell you!" She practically squealed in her ear as she got off her back.

"Would that have anything to do with what was happening in Draco's room just now?" Hermione asked, a sly smile working its way onto her lips as she saw Ginny sputter and blush.

"How did you know about that?" The tall ginger asked her.

"Silencing charms are a wonder. You should really use them next time." Hermione said, happy to have a conformation that her friends had got together. She hadn't really realised that they even talked to each other until just before the holidays but after pondering on it for a bit, she realised they suited each other well. Ginny needed someone who would challenge her, fire her up but could also get her to see reason where she didn't. Draco did all of those things. On the other hand, Draco needed some attention and kindness, which all of the Weasley's had in abundance, along with Ginny's fiery passion.

"I'll make sure to do that." Ginny said and Hermione could practically see the girl tucking the information away for later.

"So how was the rest of your holiday? Did the twins give you the same gift they gave me? Because if they did, I'm sure you had a great time." Ginny said with a wink. Hermione huffed in annoyance at the very thought of it. It still aggravated her that Bill had taken away the box of toys when he had no right to. She had, however, found that the vibrator had rolled under her bed when she dropped the box, so at least she still had that to play with.

"It was complicated." Hermione said vaguely.

"What does that even mean?" Ginny asked, bewildered.

"It means that your brothers are twats, is what it means." Hermione said, only now noticing Draco standing in the doorway with a small content smile on his face. Hermione raised an eye brow at him. He shrugged. She shook her head with fondness.

"Well that's nothing new. What did Ron do this time?" Ginny asked.

"It wasn't Ron, it was Bill and Charlie." Hermione admitted and Draco, ever the dirty minded man, huffed out a laugh as he finally came into the room and proceeded to make himself comfortable laying back on her bed.

"Both of them? At once, or?" He teased and Ginny went pale at the thought. Hermione threw a pillow at him, but his seeker reflexes had him catch it and throw it right back.

"No, you idiot. Sadly, there was no sex for me these last two weeks, unlike some people I know." She said pointedly.

"So then what happened?" Gin asked.

"Bill was being weird. There's some stuff going on there that's hard to explain. And then Charlie basically gave me the shovel talk." She said. Both of her friends were intrigued now.

"Are you having it on with Bill?" Ginny asked, her nose scrunched up in confusion.

"No?" Hermione said, though it came out more like a question.

"So you don't know." Draco confirmed. Hermione shrugged helplessly.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Ginny demanded. "Are you or aren't you?"

"It's inevitable I suppose, well according to Remus and all the books that I've read on the matter. But we've never been on a date and I'm just supposed to accept that I'm meant to spend the rest of my life with the man?" Hermione burst out and Draco and Ginny shared a look before turning back to her.

"You need to start from the beginning and tell us everything." Draco said. And so Hermione did. She told them about how she was trying to loosen up a bit, about that night she got drunk and Bill carried her to bed, about his wolf coming out in her presence, about how secretive and panicked he had been about the whole thing, how she said she would wait for him to tell her the truth, the awkwardness between them afterwards, the avoidance, her shouting at him in front of the Headmistress, their tea the Sunday before break when she thought they were getting somewhere, about how impatient she got when she was sitting in Grimmauld Place so she decided do some research. Hermione even told them what she had found in the books and what Remus had to say about it too. Then she told them about the twin's gift and how Bill had reacted when he saw it.

And then there was Christmas at the Burrow.

 _Hermione, Remus and Sirius all flooed to The Burrow together for the Christmas lunch that MRs Weasley invited them to. Hermione was nervous about seeing Bill again, especially after the way he behaved the other day. She had no idea what to expect from him. She hated not knowing things._

 _"Sirius, Remus, it's so good to see you dears. Come on in and make yourselves comfortable, Lunch will be ready in about half an hour." Mrs Weasley said as she came bustling out of the kitchen to great them, wiping her hands on her frilly pink apron. Hermione stepped out from behind the two men and smiled at the woman she considered a second mother._

 _"Mrs Weasley, do you need any help getting things ready?" Hermione asked her and he face lit up with a smile._

 _"There's always room for more in my kitchen dear. Bill's in there right now. Go on in and ask him what you can do." She said as she saw to Charlie and whoever he had brought with him. Hermione sighed as she stepped in to the kitchen, her eyes immediately falling on Bill's broad shoulders. She saw him straighten out and turn, his nose flaring and then he smiled._

 _"Hermione." HE said, his eyes never leaving what he was doing. He could recognise her just from her smell._

 _"Do you need any help with cooking?" She asked, realising that he could cook too, otherwise Mrs Weasley wouldn't have let him in the kitchen. She knew that Ginny was banned from the kitchen because she blew up a chicken one time._

 _"No, I've got it covered. You could start setting the table though?" HE said and Hermione went about getting out all the things they would need. The cutlery was in the draw to the left of the sink, the serviettes already on the counter but the plates; the plates were on the top shelf in the pantry and Hermione was too short to reach them. She stood up on the tips of her toes to try and reach but still couldn't._

 _Suddenly, she felt a warm body press against her back, as strong arms wound around her, reaching up to grab the plates down for her. Hermione stood very still, not wanting to press their bodies closer as she tried to calm herself to down to no avail. She was sure that Bill, because she knew it was Bill, could smell how his closeness made her feel hot and bothered._

 _"Here you go." He said, placing the plates in her hands, leaving his own free to rest gently on her hips. Hermione gasped at the feeling, his hands flexing as he leaned down to rest his chin in the crook of her neck. She clutched the plates tightly to her chest, fearing that she would drop them if things went any further. She heard him inhale deeply and it made her shiver._

 _Hermione was conflicted. She really shouldn't be enjoying this as much as she was, especially considering the way Bill had acted the last time they saw each other. But she couldn't help the pull she felt towards him. It was blinding and forceful and Hermione wasn't sure she wanted to resist. And when Bill set his lips to her neck, kissing her skin softly, Hermione melted into his arms with a soft sigh._

 _"We shouldn't." Hermione said breathlessly. Bill bit down on her neck, hard enough to leave a bruise and Hermione dropped the plates to the ground with a crash as she jumped in surprise. She spun around and grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him down, crashing their lips together. Bill froze for a moment, obviously not expecting her to react so vigorously._

 _But soon he was taking advantage of their position, backing her up against the shelves painfully. One of his hands slide down from her waist to her thigh, lifting her leg to wrap around his waist. Their tongues battled for dominance and Hermione's hands pulling at his hair. It was rough and full of heat and soon Bill was sliding his lips over her neck as Hermione gasped for breath._

 _"Bill, where are you?" Mrs Weasley's voice ringed out and they froze in place. Hermione realised what they were doing and immediately disentangled herself from him. He watched her as she had a freak out, the space in the pantry too small and her breathing becoming shallow. She had to get away from him so that she could think._

 _"I'm in the pantry Mum. I'll be out in a minute." Bill called over his shoulder and then his focus was on her again._

 _"Hermione you need to take deep breaths." He commanded, placing his hands on her cheeks to keep her focus._

 _"I- I can't- I need-" She gasped and then took one deep breath, holding it in for a moment before breathing it out slowly. When she got a hold of herself again she pushed him away from her and ran from the room._

 _The rest of the evening Hermione ignored him and he didn't try to talk to her either. She stuck by Ginny's side throughout the night, making sure that she wasn't alone because she was sure that she would have another panic attack._

"Have you had any panic attacks since then?" Draco asked her, well aware of how it felt. He'd had many a panic attack after a nightmare thinking that Voldemort was still out to get him or when everything got too much and he felt helpless. Hermione had helped him through it on more than one occasion.

"No." Hermione said.

"That's a lot to take on." Ginny said.

"Tell me about it." Hermione said, making Ginny snort.

"So what do you want?" Draco asked. Hermione turned to look at Draco contemplatively.

"I have no idea." She said.

"Well you'd better figure it out soon. I'm sure Bill's wolf can only take so much before he cracks and takes what he wants." Draco said.

"What makes you say that?" Ginny asked, concerned and a bit curious.

"I spent enough time with Greyback during the war to know that, when determined, the animal is much stronger than the man." Draco said and Hermione and Ginny both flinched at the name.

"So you're saying that if I don't figure out what I want soon, I might not have a chose at all?" Hermione asked.

"Bill would never force you to do anything you don't want to. He's not that kind of man." Ginny said looking at Draco accusingly.

"Maybe not when he was just a wizard, but now that he's a wolf…" Hermione trailed off, remembering the very real examples she had witnessed of this in Bill and even Remus when compared to other wizards.


	16. Chapter 16

So I had a bit of trouble coming up with the direction that this story would take. This chapter, I'm not 100% happy with but kind of brings them back on track and I'm sure ill come up with a couple of awkward situations for them to stumble through before the end, which will be soon. Reviewing the shit out of this will give me the motivation to write the next chapter sooner, just saying... XXXXGemmortiaXXXXxxxxxxxx

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The next few weeks had Hermione one edge. The idea that Bill would take her by force, whether she wanted it or not had shaken her. She hated not having a choice. She was careful to never be alone with the man, too afraid that he would lose control. She had stopped sleeping at night, the darkness a crutch for her imagination, her dreams full of Bill, wild and golden eyed, pinning her down and taking what he wanted from her. She woke screaming for the first time in months, causing Draco and Ginny, clad in scantily nothing to run into her room, wands blazing, only to find a terrified ball of sweat and tears. It was starting to affect her studies and she finally reached the last straw in Charms class one Friday in February.

Professor Weasely was making his rounds while the class was practicing a particularly tricky hex, helping those who struggled. Hermione was sitting next to Draco, completely focused on the task at hand and not the entrancing ginger werewolf.

"You need to flick your wand to the left more harshly." A deep growly voice whispered into her ear as a foreign hand touched her waist. So deeply focused was the bushy haired woman that she screamed at the contact. She couldn't help but jump out of his reach when she realised whom was touching her, looking up at him as he were the personification of unrestrained lust and her terror got the best of her. Bill looked confused as she started to shake, the tension and stress of the past weeks combusting into one amalgamation of release.

"Malfoy, take her to Madame Pomfrey immediately." Bill instructed. Just the sound of his voice, one that she had imagined in her haunting dreams, made the edges of her eyes start to fade and her knees weak. Draco caught her in his arms, like in all the romantic movies where the blushing young lady swoons at the first sight of trouble, as she fainted.

She woke to the sound of someone yelling in frustration.

"Why won't you just let me _see_ her?" The voice sounded pain-filled and anxious. Hermione flinched back from the familiar tones.

"Miss Granger, my dear girl. You gave us all quite a fright." Madame Pomfrey stated a calm smile on her face as always.

"LET ME PAST! " He roared from behind the flimsy curtain that surrounded her bed.

"Hermione," the matron got her attention with a click of her chubby fingers, "I need you to take these potions for me. They'll revitalise you and restore your health." She told her as a struggle ensued beyond.

"Thank you." She told the matron with a small smile in return.

"Hermione! Please, just tell me that you're okay." Bill begged and she thought for a moment. Surely he wouldn't attack her in company? Maybe she was just being irrational.

"May I speak with him?" Hermione asked the worried looking woman.

"Your friends informed me of what has been going on dear, are you sure that is the wisest course of action?"

"Gryffindors are not known to be wise, Poppy." Hermione responded with a tired smile. The older woman laughed.

"Alright. I'll send him in. But I'll be near, in case you need to call for assistance."She told her.

"Thank you." And then she was alone. There were quiet murmurings from the other side of the curtains and then a frantic William Weasley burst through the curtains, rushing to her side. He grabbed her face in his big warm hands, with a soft grip that surprised her. There was alarm and anguish written all over his handsome face as he stared into her eyes. His pale blue eyes stared back at her and she felt herself settle into the overwhelming sense of peace she felt in his presence. She had no idea what brought out those feelings in her considering just a moment ago she had been completely terrified of him. But he seemed to have a good hold on himself, with Raff nowhere in sight.

"Are you alright? I thought something terrible had happened," He said, his voice trembling with a fear of a different kind. He began searching her body for any physical signs of distress as she sat there staring at him in confusion.

"I'm sorry," she burst out eventually.

"What on earth for?" He asked her, clearly baffled.

"I was afraid of you," she whispered, finding that she still was, to an extent.

"Why?" he asked, tracing the side of her face with a careful finger.

"Because of what you are. You're not the same as before you were turned. You have less control over yourself, share your body with overwhelming natural instincts and I'm afraid that I can't give you what you want from me. Or that we're mates and we're going to spend the rest of our lives together. You'll get tired of waiting and you'll just take what you want instead," Hermione told him, the words gushing out before she could stop or filter them. They weren't carefully crafted like she usually spoke, and far too blunt for her liking. Bill just stared at her incredulously.

"You really think, what, that I would rape you? Are you fucking kidding me Hermione? I love you. I want to be with you _forever!_ I wouldn't do anything, especially anything as terrible as that, to jeopardise our future together," he told her vehemently. "Even Raff agrees to an extent that having you _willing_ to be ours is vital." He pulled back from her and started to pace as his frustration clearly showed.

"I don't know what to think anymore," Hermione mumbled and he rushed to her side once more.

"You have to know that I would never-"

"I know now," She interrupted and they stared at each other for a long while before she spoke once more.

"So, you love me?" She said her words edged with casual amusement.

"I was hoping you were too busy being put at easy to retain that bit." Bill groaned.

"I care about you too Bill. I really do," She told him, one of her hands wrapped itself in his long wavy hair and pulled him close so that she could rest her forehead against his.

"That's enough for me, at least for now," he told her.

"You have to start sharing things with me. We have to be completely honest with each other if this is going to go anywhere."

"I can try," he said honestly.

"And there needs to be a serious amount of wooing," she added teasingly, already knowing that he wouldn't need to woo her. She was already putty in his hands.

"I can do that," he promised.


End file.
